Oh I’ve done way more before I’m sure, correcting spelling, grammar, formatting and making it actually make sense than just some words mashed together. It might then trigger some ideas so repeat a few times. Then you have emojis 
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I always thought that ISAs were badly thought out. If they were ever going to achieve what was originally intended (i.e. a way for those without much disposable income to save tax free), the limits could have been lowered, but the interest rate increased to artificially create a bumper compound effect that would replicate what a full 20k allocation would generate.
(I.e. limit deposits to £5k but force banks to pay at least 3% over base rate, or use a government top up) - it’s only recently the LISA has come around and is actually an effective way of saving a decent amount and being suitability rewarded for it.
Strangely, the government went for a bumper amount that most people could only dream of achieving and left the interest rates and bonuses as, well, rubbish (or non existent).
That said the best ISA rate I ever had was 10% for a year when I was much younger. I did not take advantage of it.
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we are where we are, rightly or wrongly with previous / extg Govts policy , it doesn’t change the outcome, to not take advantage of tax free savings because at the moment the interest rates are low is akin to saying when you are 20 why bother saving for a pension that is too far in the future to even consider , whereas the financially astute 20 year olds will say why wouldn’t I put £20 a month away in the knowledge that that amount would be worth £200 a month when Im 30, or £800 / month when Im 40 to get me where I want to be in retirement
It’s all tax free now though with the PSA for most people.
You’d be better off maxing out a LISA and the going for a high, instant access account.
Earn a little more or own your home? Skip the Cash ISA and use a mix of an S&S ISA, a SIPP (tax benefits) and an instant access account.
The PSA has killed the cash ISA, especially whilst the Interest rates are so rubbish.
PSA depending on circumstances- I agree, but you’re possibly not looking at the long game - I just know that over the past 10 ish years Ive put money aside in an ISA that is now tax free income , Ive then increased my earnings , which have then gone over the tax allowance for interest and Ive gained - in terms of tax benefits - because my earnings have gone up, its a personal choice where you put your extra savings, in a 1.5% interest account with no tax benefits or a 1 .25% ISA - or whatever rate you can get - with lots tax benefits - at the moment - I just know in my personal circumstances, its worked for me - courses for horses and all that
S&S ISA and SIPP is my long game. Tax free savings and good SIPP tax benefits. (SIPP topped up by HMRC and comes off my tax bill).
Entirely personal, but if I had 20k put in my back pocket to spend tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t be looking for the best rate (fixed?) Cash ISA. Tax free or not, the rate it returns will be lower then inflation, which is what, 2.5% at the moment? It would go into a rainy day fund instant access, half my age in percent into the SIPP and the rest dripped into an S&S ISA Global Tracker for 18 months.
It’s the only way I see of beating inflation and actually generating spending power.
I get what you’re saying about Cash ISA’s and how you use them, but for me I just don’t think they’re worth bothering with! Horses for courses indeed.
Seconded. I’m also curious about this.
Can you elaborate on this and what’s the result of (correct me if the following is wrong) putting the money in your ISA on the last day of the tax year and taking it out the following day?
Is there any plans for a children’s ISA or children’s saving account of any kind?
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I’ve not heard any plans for it but monzo are authorised to offer them 
so hopefully, in the not too distant future, it becomes a reality 
https://community.monzo.com/t/join-the-waitlist-for-isas-with-monzo/60892/33?u=nexusmaniac
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I maintain a cash savings balance of around £10k. I built it up in previous tax years.
On 6th April 2018 I moved this money out of my flexible cash ISA (leaving £1 in the ISA so it does not get closed automatically) and used it to fund various non-ISA accounts which pay higher interest than my cash ISA. Because I’m not going to achieve 10% interest on this £10k, any interest I earn outside the ISA will be below the PSA and I won’t pay tax on this.
On 5th April 2019 (or probably a couple of days earlier just to be safe) I will move that money back into the same flexible cash ISA. Because its a flexible ISA, this re-depositing of the £10k won’t count toward my 18-19 ISA subscription allowance (so I’m able to use as much of the £20k 18-19 allowance as I can manage for other things such as S&S ISA subscriptions). It will also mean the long-term ISA status of the £10k will be unaffected (even though it was outside the ISA for 99% of the year). I will then do the same thing during the 19-20 tax year.
Even though I’m not able to max out my £20k yearly subscription limit I still like to maintain the long term ISA status of my cash savings in this way because it mitigates against future potential scenarios in which having cash savings which have not previously been subscribed to an ISA would be undesirable (e.g. removal of PSA, lowering of subscription limits, increase in interest rates).
Note: the above is only possible with a flexible ISA. If you take money out of a non-flexible ISA you can’t put it back in without using your subscription allowance for that year.
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I think I just about understand why you’d do this. Essentially getting the benefit of the best accounts, whilst mitigating the risk by keeping it in an ISA at critical points in the year.
I have a sneaking suspicion the PSA is intended to replace the ISA long-term, but we’ll see.
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I still don’t see the tangible benefit of doing this? I’m sure there is, I think I’m just confused 
It’s like bank account coupon-ing.
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Yes - that’s it
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But what is the benefit it you’re not leaving any money in the “best accounts”? Not meaning to sound obtuse - do some of your S&S ISAs need £X in certain places to work better?
The £10k cash savings I referred to in the previous post is distributed among the best non-ISA cash savings accounts I can find for around 360 days of the year (and thus earning interest from these accounts for 360 days of the year). It’s only for a few days at the tax year transition point that I move in and out of my flexible cash ISA.
My S&S ISA has nothing to do with it. I only mentioned it in an earlier post to make the point that doing this does not affect my ability to fully subscribe to more lucrative ISAs (like S&S ISA) in any given year.
I think there’s some misunderstanding of how ISAs work here - but it could just be me! What exactly do you mean by “the long-term ISA status of the £10k will be unaffected”?
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Don’t you only get tax free on that money while it’s in the ISA? As soon as you take it out then you lose that status?
Carrying on with the example above. The interest earned on the money during the 360 or so days it is outside the ISA is taxable. But because of the amount involved and current interest rates, any interest earned will be well below my PSA so there will be no tax to pay.
By long-term ISA status I mean I do not have to re-subscribe the money to put it back into the same flexible ISA within the same tax year. In other words paying the money back in does not count as new ISA money and does not make use of my allowance for that year. If I did not pay the money back in during the same tax year it will lose this status. If I wanted to pay it back in a future tax year I would have to use part of my ISA subscription allowance in that year.